


Night Shift

by doop_doop



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Gen, No Spoilers, Post-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21725476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doop_doop/pseuds/doop_doop
Summary: Two strangers talk, and discover they have more in common than they would have guessed.
Relationships: Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius & Gatekeeper
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	Night Shift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [infernian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/infernian/gifts).



> This idea basically belongs to Nic/Infernian, and his enthusiasm for this rarest of rarepairs inspired me to write this.

“Halt! Please state your purpose!” 

Rodrigue knew there was always a guard posted at the monastery entrance; he must have been more tired than he’d thought, to be startled so by the shout. “Just going for a walk,” he said, turning to face the man and shooting him what he hoped was a winning smile - though, with how he’d been lately, it probably just looked weary.

“Oh, sir, it’s you!”

Though Rodrigue was used to being recognized, the guard’s unbridled enthusiasm made him chuckle. “So it is.” 

“You’re free to go in and out as you please, sir! I don’t mean to keep you!” 

“No worries,” Rodrigue said. “You’re just doing your job.” He hadn’t gone out expecting to speak with anyone, but found to his surprise that he didn’t mind the conversation he’d stumbled into. Talking to someone made him feel a little more like a man, and less like a ghost that haunted the place. There was something about utter solitude that could quickly drive one to strange thoughts.

“Thank you, sir! May I just say, it was very kind of you to dine with the knights the other day?”

“You weren’t there, were you?” Rodrigue said, stepping closer to get a better view of the man’s face. It didn’t look familiar, but he’d met a lot of people all at once - it would be easy enough to forget one, and Goddess knew his memory was aging along with the rest of him.

“No, I wasn’t, sir,” the gatekeeper said. “However, I spoke with several of the knights, and it seemed to raise the overall morale quite significantly! As did the additional supplies, sir!”

“I’m glad,” Rodrigue said, and he was. It was one thing to know abstractly that people appreciated his efforts, and another to hear it outright, from the mouth of someone who had nothing to gain by saying so. “I’m sorry you didn’t make it, though.”

“I had guard duty, sir. It couldn’t be helped!”

“I’m sure I can dine with you another time, to make up for it.”

Rodrigue didn’t expect his words to have such a vivid, instantaneous reaction: the guard’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth in shock. “I - I’d be honored, sir! Anytime I’m not on guard duty, consider me available!” 

Rodrigue chuckled again, and glanced away. The man’s enthusiasm was near overwhelming. Goddess knew everyone in the army could use some of it in these times, but one on one, it felt like a wave hitting him in the face. Was this man for real, anyways? Was this an act he put on in hopes of currying favor with those he spoke to, or was this actually how he was? 

“I’m glad the offer pleases you,” Rodrigue said, after a moment’s pause. “And I hope you don’t mind me taking up your time to speak with you here like this. I hope I’m not distracting you from your duties.” 

“Not at all, sir!” the gatekeeper said. Then he paused, glancing out into the darkness. When he spoke again, his voice was much quieter. “You aren’t distracting me at all. It’s very nice to have someone here, in fact.” 

“I’m sure nights on duty get long.”

“Very long,” he agreed. “Some people believe in ghosts. I don’t, myself, but the darkness makes a man see things sometimes, you know?” 

Rodrigue nodded. He did know. “I don’t envy you.”

“It isn’t so bad!” the man said quickly. “I don’t want to talk your ear off with my complaints, sir. I enjoy my job, and I’m glad I’m here. I don’t mind taking the night shift when I have to.” 

“You can complain without sounding ungrateful for what you do have,” Rodrigue said, and the man’s face relaxed, as if he’d been worried his words might have been offensive. “It doesn’t bother me, hearing you say so. I can only imagine how long the nights feel.” 

“Thank you, sir,” the man said. “And can I ask… what brings you out here tonight?” 

“I couldn’t sleep,” Rodrigue said. He didn’t know why he was confiding in this man, a complete stranger to him. But Rodrigue was tired, and the man was listening with more than just a perfunctory politeness - he was genuinely interested. “Did you know I attended Garreg Mach myself?”

“I did know that, actually!”

“It’s strange coming back after so long,” Rodrigue said. “Strange living here again. Strange seeing it damaged, strange seeing it used as a military base instead of as a school. But the thing that’s the strangest to me is, somehow the air smells exactly the same as it did when I was a student.” 

He knew the words were out of character for him. He was being poetic, a product of the late hour and the weariness he carried with him always.  _ You sound senile,  _ Felix would probably say.  _ Stop prattling. No one wants to hear your pointless reminiscing.  _ But when he paused and glanced over, Rodrigue saw that the gatekeeper was still watching him, evidently wondering if he was done speaking. 

Rodrigue sighed. “It is so strange that so much is different, yet the very air smells exactly as it did twenty-five years ago.” 

“I know what you mean,” the gatekeeper said. “When I stand here and look towards the market, it’s just as it was five years earlier. Nothing seems to have changed at all. I can sometimes convince myself that there’s no war going on. It - it’s kind of funny to say it out loud. I’ve never told another person.”

“Nor I,” Rodrigue said. “I didn’t think anyone would like to listen to the prattling of an old man.”

“That’s - you’re not an old man!” the gatekeeper said, speaking so fast he nearly stumbled over his words. “And I  _ enjoy _ listening to you! I’m glad you’re here!”

“Thank you,” Rodrigue said. It was pathetic, really, how comforted he felt by this man’s presence. Rodrigue no longer doubted the sincerity of his words, and it made him feel oddly warm, realizing that him just being there made this man happy.

“It felt odd enough to come back after five years away,” the gatekeeper said, when Rodrigue didn’t speak. “I can’t imagine  _ twenty-five.” _

“Yes,” Rodrigue said. “Odd, indeed.” 

A cold wind blew, making them both shiver. It came from the west, carrying the scent of the pond and trees, damp mud and pine needles and that unnamed scent that Rodrigue could only describe as the monastery itself. Maybe the stones of the buildings had a scent, or some plant that grew only here. Rodrigue would probably never know.

“You should try to get some sleep, sir, if you can,” the gatekeeper said. “I heard you march at daybreak, and that’s not far away, now.”

“You’re right. Thank you.” 

Rodrigue didn’t know this man’s name, but now it felt almost foolish to ask. The time for that, he thought, would have been at the beginning of their conversation, not now, at its end. He’d ask around, find it out and surprise the gatekeeper next time they met by calling out to him directly. Rodrigue felt terribly silly at the plan - and at how happy it made him to imagine the man’s enthusiasm if he did it. “I hope your night passes quickly and uneventfully, my friend.” 

“I’m sure you stopping by will be the most eventful thing that happens tonight. Probably this week!” 

“Let’s hope so,” Rodrigue said, then turned and left without another word.

He glanced over his shoulder once, when he was already some distance away. The gatekeeper was facing forward again, staring off into the night. Rodrigue noticed he was smiling, and, though he was already far away, felt himself smiling too, like an echo.

**Author's Note:**

> if you love rarepairs too, come hang out at the [fe3h rarepair server](https://discord.gg/SPeGQcm)!


End file.
